Mama’s, Haliimaile, Frida’s to reopen
Restaurants feel that reopening is a chance they have to take
Mama’s Fish House, one of the largest employers in the restaurant business prior to the pandemic, is reopening its inn and dining room, joining the many eateries that are taking the plunge with the state’s pre-travel testing program two weeks away.
Mama’s announced on its Facebook page Monday evening that it would restart operations at the inn on Oct. 15 and the restaurant on Nov. 6. Reservations will be available on Mama’s website or Open Table starting Tuesday.
“We’re just really super excited to get going again and get everybody back to work and get some activity down in the cove again,” said Karen Christenson, daughter of Mama’s founders and the vice president of marketing and beverages. “It’s so great to be able to call the farmer and say, we need Waipoli greens . . . and hey, we need Maui olive oil.”
While some restaurants have offered takeout during the pandemic and others reopened for dining in June, many have remained closed, particularly those dependent on visitors. Recently, however, several establishments anticipating a boost in business have announced plans to reopen, such as Longhi’s, which opens Friday in Wailea, and
Merriman’s Kapalua, which opened last month.
Mama’s has been closed since March 19 and had to lay off the majority of its workforce aside from a handful of administrators, chefs, managers and maintenance crew. Prior to March, the restaurant had reservations extending as far away as Christmas.
With the state’s decision to allow trans-Pacific travelers to bypass quarantine with proof of a negative COVID-19 test starting Oct. 15, Christenson decided to reopen and said the restaurant is busy getting ready to receive customers again.
“It’s top to bottom cleaning, it’s employment. Everyone has to reapply,” Christenson explained Tuesday. “So it’s definitely a lot of work to be done.”
The award-winning restaurant, which once employed more than 370 workers and served lunch and dinner to 800 to 1,000 customers a day, will most likely start out with dinner seven days a week, with fewer tables, social distancing and a smaller menu. Rehiring staff will likely come in phases, and Christenson said she wasn’t sure when Mama’s would get back to its full staffing size.
Last week, Mama’s held a limited fresh fish retail sale and plans to start selling meal kits of fresh-caught fish, poi, Kuau pie and other items in the coming weeks.
The inn, which reopens sooner, will no longer offer daily maid service. Linens and towels will be available upon request, and rooms will be deep cleaned between bookings.
Meanwhile at Haliimaile General Store, chef-owner Bev Gannon said she’s looking to reopen sometime around the first two weeks of November. The restaurant has been closed since March 18 and laid off all but three people — someone in accounting and human resources and the corporate chef.
Once it reopens, the restaurant will have a smaller menu, fewer tables, social distancing and limited hours, starting with five nights a week. Gannon said she woke up Monday morning and decided she should give reopening a shot, reasoning that if she doesn’t make a move now, the business may not get another chance.
“It is not a light at the end of the tunnel at all,” Gannon said. “It is, we’re all now pushed up against the wall, and if we don’t get open, the possibility of not reopening is pretty great.”
She wasn’t planning to open Gannon’s Restaurant and Celebration Catering just yet, as most of her clientele is based on the visitor market. Prior to the pandemic, each restaurant had about 60 employees. Haliimaile General Store will likely bring back about 12 or 13 to start, Gannon said.
The restaurant’s capacity of 130 will likely be reduced to about 50 to 60. Tables will be spaced at least 6 feet apart, salt and pepper shakers will be removed and silverware and napkins will come in a bag. Diners will be able to pull up a menu online or request a paper copy. The restaurant will have a staff member dedicated solely to going around and continually sanitizing everything.
Gannon added that the cost of ingredients has gone up like crazy.
“So we’re trying to have a more affordable-priced menu, which means some of the items that people are normally used to having at the restaurant won’t be on there until the restaurant starts filling up more,” she explained.
Like Gannon, longtime restaurateur Mark Ellman feels reopening his restaurant is a gamble he had to take sooner or later. On Thursday, he’ll reopen Frida’s Beach House in Lahaina, with plans to operate from 2 to 8 p.m. Thursday through Sunday and tables open on a first-come, firstserved basis. Ellman has opened nearly 20 restaurants in his career, including Maui Tacos, Penne Pasta and Mala Ocean Tavern. But it’s never been as nervewracking as reopening in a pandemic.
“I’m so afraid of opening,” he admitted Tuesday. “This is so different from having the full population, tourists as well as residents . . . . But we’re going to roll the dice and try and make this work.”
Ellman said if he didn’t reopen, he’s worried he could go bankrupt. Paying rent, utilities and limited staff salaries at both Frida’s and Honu Seafood and Pizza has cost him about $12,000 to $14,000 a month each, with no income. The restaurants, which closed March 16, had to lay off about 140 people in total and gave away about $20,000 worth of stocked up food to employees.
With the reopening, Frida’s will bring back about 15 to 20 employees and a limited menu. The restaurant will likely operate at about 50 to 60 percent of its capacity of 110, and Ellman said they can’t expand outside because increasing the size of the dining area would require them to provide more parking spaces.
“We’re going to try Frida’s first before we look at Honu,” he said. “I’m also looking at Honu as possibly changing the concept. If indeed tourism may not come back till next summer or beyond, we may have to make some changes and create a new concept or a new menu.”
Ellman said his only wish is to make enough to cover payroll, his rent, utilities and taxes.
“I want my neighbors to succeed,” he said. “I want every restaurant to succeed.”